1st May, 2024 10:00
East Anglian, Antiques & Fine Art
1115
Richard Drew, known as Zacron (British, 1943-2012) airbrush, Ocean - Study for Leyland Cars mini campaign, signed and dated 1981, 26 x 30cm, glazed frame
Richard Drew, known as Zacron (British, 1943-2012) airbrush, Ocean - Study for Leyland Cars mini campaign, signed and dated 1981, 26 x 30cm, glazed frame
The Zacron (1943 - 2012) Estate Sale
Led Zeppelin’s enigmatic cover art designer’s studio comes to sale in our spring Fine Art auction.
The artist known as Zacron, was born Richard Drew in Sutton in 1943. Zacron’s artistic career was intrinsically connected to music and during his artistic training he met first Eric Clapton and then Jimmy Page whilst at Kingston College of Art, Zacron recalled how they became fast friends: “Jimmy visited my studio, and in his home, we discussed art and music. We decorated our guitars with experimental materials and designs, I made liquid projections using hot oils and strobes linked to the music of Jimi Hendrix.”
Zacron embraced the zeitgeist of swinging 1960s London and his art was conceptual as well as visual, with spontaneous happenings, bold costume and psychedelia to the fore, his superb command across a range of visual media extended to performance art and of course music. Much of the work in this studio collection is highly evocative of that period.
Soon after completing his artistic studies at the Royal Academy. Zacron briefly became a lecturer at Leeds Polytechnic, before resigning the post to found ‘Zacron Studios’, it was after a gig at Leeds University in 1970 that the members of Led Zeppelin met with Zacron to discussing the commission of an album cover for the their Led Zeppelin III album, with Jimmy Page championing Zacron’s work. Zacron’s response was highly original and innovative, derived from kinetic art which he had explored during his Royal Academy studies. With pierced outer cover and inner volvelle - a rotating inner wheel which produced an ever changing kaleidoscope effect, literally a revolutionary design. The unconventional approach was also highly complex for production and disruptive, setting back the album release date by two months. It nevertheless coincided with Led Zeppelin’s zenith of fame, they were at this time considered to be the biggest band in the world, and the delay only served to fuel anticipation. Ultimately, sales in the United States alone totalled 25 million copies, making it one of the most iconic covers in rock history.
Zacron’s long artistic career often returned to muscial associations, other music projects included the highly effective pop art collage 1975 album cover for pop group Fancy. He was also in demand as a graphic artist, producing advertising designs for Daler Rowney, Whatney paper and others. During a career which spanned five decades he made an analytical spiritual exploration of the visual arts, tackling a broad range of media and themes. His work has featured in exhibitions around the world, his art has been collected by legends of the music world and is included in many significant collections. In the latter part of his life he lived at Hethersett in Norfolk.
The present collection is directly from the artist’s studio. A larger single owner sale of works from the studio will be presented later in the year.
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We are happy to provide condition reports for online and absentee bidders and to supply additional photographs on any lot. We ask that condition report requests are submitted at least 24 hours prior to the sale. (Whilst every care is taken to give an accurate condition report, we accept no responsibility for any omissions or errors in our reports. It is the buyer’s responsibility to view the lots and satisfy themselves as to their condition.)
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We are happy to accept phone bids for our Fine Art and Collectors’ sales. Phone bids may be arranged in person with our office team, by phone or by email. We simply require the lot number and details of the lots which you wish to bid on and contact phone number / numbers. Our phone bidders will call in advance of your chosen lot / lots and bid on your behalf during the sale.
Telephone bids must be booked by 4pm the day before the sale but can be arranged earlier, we have limited lines and certain lots can be over-subscribed for phone bidding, in such instances we conduct a first come, first served basis and we encourage clients to book well in advance or risk being disappointed.
Auction: East Anglian, Antiques & Fine Art, 1st May, 2024
Reeman Dansie’s East Anglian, Antiques and Fine Art sale was a great success, with sustained interest and several exciting moments throughout the three-day sale. Day one began with a single-owner collection of 18th century porcelain figures, where the highlight was a rare 18th century Meissen group, fought over by three phone bidders from Germany and eventually selling for £12,500 (lot 10). Among the other ceramics, a fine pair of Royal Worcester fruit-painted vases made £4500 (lot 211). Silver, jewellery, and watches followed: a 1950s Blancpain diver’s watch sold for £20,000, almost 70 years after the vendor was given the watch by the founder of Blancpain (lot 625).
Day two saw East Anglian Art and other works of art go under the hammer, with good results for single-owner collections of portrait miniatures, antique maps, and Japanese lacquerware. There was also a great deal of interest in the David Thomas Turner collection of fossils, with the top price going to a Jurassic period Plesiosaur paddle (£3900, lot 904). As always, there was strong competition for the East Anglian part of the sale, with works by John Moore of Ipswich and Thomas Smythe selling well. At the more contemporary end of the spectrum, two works by Hugo Grenville made £2500 and £3100 respectively (lots 1139 and 1140), while the highest price of the section was achieved by an oil on canvas by Reginald Brill, which fetched £4100 (lot 1029).
Furniture and rugs were sold on the final day of the sale; garden statuary proved popular, with a range of urns and fountains selling for above estimate, the most noteworthy being a large stone urn removed from Berechurch Hall after the Second World War (lot 1557, £4400). The most eagerly anticipated lot of the day was a superb Chippendale-style mirror, which saw several phone bidders steadily drop out of the race until the hammer fell at £5600 (lot 1460).
We’d like to thank everyone who attended the sale, both online and in the room, and we look forward to welcoming you back to our next Fine Art and Antiques sale in July. Before that, we will be holding a host of other sales, which you can find listed on our website.
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